Trailer jack



J. T. HARBES Sept. 27, 1938.

TRAILER JACK Filed Feb. 24, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR, John T har'bes. M I

ATTORNEYS.

Sept. '27, 1938. J, T' HARBES 2,131,281

TRAILER JACK Filed Feb. 24, 19's? 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1% 4 52 Ja 6'. 78 36 50 52 F INVENTOR, Jo/m 7T fiar'bes. BY

/ W ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 27, 1938 7 i i V g UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TRAILER JACK John T. Harbes, Kansas City, Mo.

Application February 24, 1937, Serial No. 127,391 g 7 Claims. (01. 254-86) 7 This inventionrrelates to improvementsin veas illustrated in the accompanying drawings, hicle jacks and particularly to trailer jacks permanumeral. designates .a trailer, having a body i2, nently attached to the vehicle and operable to with a pair of wheels I4 mounted adjacent the, raise or lower the vehicle and support it in any .rear end thereof. A hitch I6 is provided at the '5 desired position. a I

One of the principal objects ofthis invention is the trailer to a motor vehicle A for transportation. the provision of a vehicle, such as a trailer, hav- Secured to the body structure is a pair of jacks ing a pair of supporting wheels at one end there- I8 and 20, which serve to support the front end of, and provided with jacks atthe other end, havof the trailer whenthe same is detached from the 10 ring means whereby the jack stems may be inmotor vehicle. Furthermore, these jacks are 10 dependently lowered to contact the supporting adapted to be retracted to the raised position so surface therebeneath and then simultaneously that they will. clear the roadway as the trailer is operated to raise both sides of the trailer at a being transported. The jacks as shown are atuniform rate of speed.- tached at the end of the body in spacedapart rela- -1"5 Afurther. object of the present invention is the tion so as to support the forward end of the 5 provision of S mp e a e y Operable jack trailer in such a manner as to preclude any side means ad p o e Positioned Substantially rocking thereof. The inner jack is attached to 1 above the floor line of the tra er W en in t one side of the trailer, while the outer jack 2!] is inoperative position. secured to the opposite side thereof. 7 p

7 A ot Obj of t invention is the P Referring now to the inner jack 18, it will be Vision Of a p 0f Jacks having a Common dTiV- observed that the jack housing 22 is provided with i t. adjustablelongitudinally Permit Said a horizontal ledge 24, positioned and secured by jacks tobepositioned at a desired sp c ap bolts 26 to the under side of the body structure, relation. with an abutment .28 of the housing resting Further objects are simplicity and t d n of against .the'vertical portion of the body. A vereenstmetien. ease n dispatch of Operation, and tical passageway 30 extends through the housing adaptabilityfor 115G011 Smooth irregular and .is adapted to receive a .rack bar 32 which 'faces. o Carries a foot member 34. Extending trans- O h e s wi appear duringthe course of versely through housing 22 is a squared shaft 36. so the Specification, referring to t drawings. This shaft is provided with suitable bushings 38, 30 wherein: having a squared hole 40 to receive the shaft and Figure 1 is d elevation a' r with a circular outer contour 42 for rotation in the trailer jacks in position,vembodying this inVen bearing members '44. 7 tion. Mounted on shaft .36 intermediate two of the 5 Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the trailer, with the bearing members 4-4 and in alignment it k jacks extended. bar 32, is a gear 46. This rack bar 32 is held in V Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the-jacks, taken on mesh t gear 45 by means of an insert 43 line IIII I o 2 the trailer Shown in which is adapted to be positioned in passageway p n- 30 with one side thereof resting against the back Fi 4 is a enlarged. sectional view of the side of rack bar 32. This insert 48 is provided side jaek' on line IVIV 0f -v 3, Partly at its upper end with a transverse projection 5|], 40

b oke ywhich limits the downward movement of the in- Fig. 5 is a sectional View. taken o line sert and also serves as a handhold, by means of O Which the insert maybe removed so that the g- 6 is an-enlarged, Side elevation of the rack bar 32 can be positioned away from gear 46 a 45 s'idejack. V o for 'free vertical movement in passageway 30. F S an enlarged, sectional view of the It will be noted that in Fig. 8 the insert is shown inside J i- 0I1-1ine'V1IV1I O inplace to hold the rack bar and gear in opera- -Fig. '8 is a s t l V w. taken on e tive relation, while in Fig. 9 the insert has been the'housing thereof-partlybroken away, and, engagement with gear 46. It will be noted that Fig. 9-isa vertical section, taken on line IXIX this insert'also serves as a guide forthe rack bar ofFig. 7,-with the insert removed and the rack and will secure it against lateral movement relabar-moved to the inoperative position. tive to the housing.

frontend of the trailer and serves for attaching 5 5O V' I-V -0 -'ZJS W E' imler j c w t removed and the rack bar is shown moved out of 5 I ln=-the preferred embodiment-of this invention 'Forpurpose of rotating gear 46 with sufficient force to lift the trailer, a train of gears 52 and 54 are mounted as clearly shown in Fig. '7 at one side of housing 22. Gear 52 is preferably of greater diameter than gear 54 and is mounted on shaft 36 for rotation therewith. The gear 54 is in mesh with gear 52, and is secured to a short shaft 56 mounted in bushings 58, which in turn are mounted in the housing 22. Shaft 56 extends beyond said housing and is adapted to receive a crank 66, by means of which said train of gears is set in operation to drive shaft 36.

At the inner side of housing 22, a detent 62 is pivotally mounted thereto by means of bolt 64. This bolt passes through a slot 66, formed in the detent, thus permitting a longitudinal movement of the detent whereby the same may be positioned so that the squared notch 68 therein may be fitted over the squared shaft 36 to prevent rotation thereof. During the operation of shaft 36, this detent is moved out of engagement with the shaft and is permitted to hang downwardly from the supporting bolt. It will be observed that shaft 36 extends transversely of the trailer body and is rotatably mounted in housing ID of jack 20. This housing is provided with a horizontally disposed ledge 12, having openings 14 formed therein through which bolts are passed to secure said housing in an operative position to the'trailer body. An opening 16 is provided to extend vertically through said housing, and is adapted to receive a rack bar 18, having a depending foot member 86. Shaft 36 is provided with spaced-apart bushings 82, which permit the said shaft to be rotated.

Positioned intermediate bushings 82 is a gear 84, which is adapted to normally mesh with rack bar 18 for moving the rack bar vertically relative to housing 16. Positioned in opening 16 at the rear of the rack bar 18, is an insert 86 which serves as a guide for the rack bar, whereby the same is maintained in operative relation with gear 84.

To prevent longitudinal movement of shaft 36, cotter keys 88 are provided in said shaft at the adjacent inner sides of the jacks. In the operation of the jacks it will be considered that the operator desires to detach the trailer from the motor vehicle and maintain the floor of the trailer in a substantially horizontal plane. The trailer is first driven to a position on the ground so that the axis of the wheels i4 is in a substantially horizontal plane. The detent is then moved to disengage shaft 36 and the inserts 48 and 86 are withdrawn so as to permit the rack bars 32 and 78 to drop until the foot members 38 and 88 rest on the ground therebeneath. If desired to obtain a better footing, blocks or any other suitable member might be positioned beneath these foot members to increase the bearing surface.

As shown in Fig. 2, the contour of the ground beneath said jacks may vary in elevation; however, both jacks will be positioned at the required starting point so that when the inserts 48 and 86 are placed to move the rack bars to engage their respective gears and the operator turns the crank 66, the jacks will move like distances and the trailer floor will be maintained in the initial horizontal position. When the operator has obtained the proper height of the'floor, then the detent 62 can again be placed in the operative position to secure the shaft 36 against accidental movement.

Suitable shields 96 are secured to the trailer body and adapted to cover certain of the working parts of the jacks respectively In some trailers the jacks might be so positioned as to cause the jack parts to be positioned within the trailer and in such cases, the form of the shield would be varied in shape.

It is apparent that by means of this novel jack structure the trailer may be quickly and easily positioned for cam-ping.

I am aware that many changes may be made and numerous details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention, and I therefore do not propose limiting the patent therein, otherwise than necessitated by prior art.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A jack for a trailer having a body and a pair of supporting wheels adjacent one end thereof comprising a pair of jack housings adjacent the other end thereof; a vertically adjustable rack bar in each of said jack housings; a transverse shaft having spaced apart gears adapted to respectively engage said rack bars; and means associated with each of said jacks operable to selectively release said rack bars from said gears to permit free movement thereof whereby different relative adjustments of the rack bars may be obtained.

2. A jack for a trailer having a body and a pair of supporting wheels adjacent one end thereof comprising a pair of jack housings adjacent the other end thereof; a vertically adjustable rack bar in each of said jack housings; a rotatably mounted transverse shaft having spaced apart gears adapted to respectively engage said rack bars; a detent adjustable to engage and prevent rotation of said shaft and secure said rack bars in fixed relative relation; and means associated with each of said jacks operable to selectively release said rack bars from said gears to permit free movement thereof.

3. A jack for a trailer having a body and a pair of supporting wheels adjacent one end thereof comprising a pair of jack housings adjacent the other end of said trailer; a vertically adjustable rack bar in each of said jack housings; a transverse shaft having spaced apart gears adapted to respectively engage said rack bars; a train of manually operable speed reducing gears associated with said shaft; and means associated with each of said jacks normally operable to selectively release said rack bars from said gears to permit free movement thereof.

4. A jack for a trailer having a body provided with a pair of supporting wheels adjacent the rear end thereof comprising a pair of jack housings secured in spaced apart relation adjacent the front end of said body; a vertically adjustable rack bar mounted in each of said housings; a transverse shaft having spaced apart gears rotatable therewith and adapted to engage respectively said rack bars; a removable insert positioned between said housings and bars respectively and adapted to normally maintain said gear rack in meshed relation with its respective gear; and a speed reducing means operable to drive said shaft.

5. A jack for a trailer having a body provided with a pair of supporting wheels adjacent the rear end thereof comprising a pair of jack housings secured in spaced apart relation adjacent the front end of said trailer body; a vertically adjustable rack bar mounted in each of said housings; a transverse shaft having spaced apart gears rotatable therewith and adapted to engage respectively said rack bars; a removable insert adapted to normally maintain said gear rack in meshed relation with its respective gear; and a detent adjustable to engage and secure said shaft against rotation and maintain said rack bars in a fixed relation to support one end of said trailer.

6. A jack for a trailer having a body provided with a pair of supporting wheels adjacent its rear end comprising a pair of jack housings secured in spaced apart relation adjacent the forward end of said body; a vertically adjustable member mounted in each of said housings; a transverse shaft mounted for rotation in said housings and geared to said vertically adjustable members whereby they are moved relative to the housing as said shaft is rotated; means for securing said shaft against rotation; and means including a spacing member positioned between said housings and each of said vertically adjustable members to hold them in operative relation with said geared shaft and being removable topermit an operation of said geared shaft and vertical adjustable members whereby they may be independently moved.

7. A jack for trailers having a plurality of vertically adjustable rack bars, means for manually operating all of said rack bars simultaneously and at the same rate of speed; means for securing said operating means against movement; and means to selectively disengage said rack bars from said operating means whereby they may be independently adjusted on a base of irregular surface.

JOHN T, HARBES. 

